Village Schools of the Bible

A Devotional Study of Hosea
by Max Frazier, Jr

THE PRICE OF FORGETTING GOD: Hosea 13

The writer of Hebrews declares, It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). When God's patience is exhausted, His wrath is consuming. Because of His holiness, God must punish sin. God's holy wrath is an aspect of God which we do not like to consider much these days. We desire to bask in the presence of His love. And His love and His grace are indeed very amazing. But we must also understand His holiness.

Throughout his prophecy, Hosea has been calling upon Israel to return to God before it is too late to do so. Hosea knows that there is a window of opportunity for everyone with God and we must act while we have that window in order to avoid the great penalties which are due us for our sins.

In verse 12, Hosea sounds an ominous warning: The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record. As a nation, they had become exceedingly sinful before the Lord. And because they were unrepentant, the list of grievances by God against them kept increasing.

As I read these words, I wondered what God is recording about our nation. Its list of sins is mounting: the abortion of hundreds of thousands of babies yearly; the toleration of sexual perversions of every kind; justice being trampled upon in our courts; leadership which blatantly displays a lack of moral character; materialism and greed being rampant. There is no spirit of national repentance.

Yes, there is the faithful remnant as in Hosea's day, but the justice of God must be forthcoming soon. Our trust, as a nation, is in ourselves and not in God. It is time for us to pray for a national awakening before the Lord, that we might be spared the wrath of God.

Yet, in the midst of this ominous alarm, Hosea utters a message of hope, for we read in verse 14, I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? God always presents a whisper of hope within the noise of judgment. Both before and after verse 14, we have the portrait of severe judgment with scenes of children and pregnant women being slaughtered, and of villages being pillaged.

But there in the midst, shining like a diamond, is this message of hope that God will redeem them from the power of death. God's promises give us hope even in the midst of despair. There are thousands of promises given to us within God's Word. Years ago I was challenged to sit down with a blank piece of paper and to begin writing out as many of the promises of God that I knew. I was embarrassed. I could only recall about a dozen or so. I mentioned my dilemma to the congregation I was pastoring at the time and challenged them to do the same. Out of this challenge, we organized a Sunday evening group which called itself "The Promises of God Club." Every week we would read portions of God's Word and then come and relate the promises which God had taught us. Soon our single page became a notebook with many pages.

God challenges us to stand secure upon His promises. Upon how many promises are you resting today? Perhaps there is a need to reorganize that "Promises of God Club."

Further Thoughts from Hosea 13:

KEY WORDS: Forget Me; Sin; Guilt

KEY VERSE: Verse 6 presents the central theme of this chapter.

PURPOSE STATEMENT: The central theme of this chapter is the penalty to come upon Israel because they willingly forgot God.

OUTLINE: THE PRICE OF FORGETTING GOD

I. Judgment because of idolatry - verses 1-3

II. God cared, but Israel forgot - verses 4-8

III. Ephraim's guilt is stored up - verses 9-13, 15-16

IV. God will deliver them from the grave - verse 14

Hosea 12 Return to the Table of Contents Hosea 14